Starbucks Barista

Starbucks Barista

Green Siren

Central, TX

Female, 26

After working all day in a cubicle, I'd spend my nights as your friendly, neighborhood Starbucks barista! I remembered your name, made each drink exactly to your specifications and did it all with a bright smile. I've served celebrities, worked both drive thru & cafe stores, worked every holiday and have kept the customers from knowing about all the craziness that goes on behind the scenes... until now. Ask me anything.

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164 Questions

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Last Answer on June 12, 2016

Best Rated

can barista's transfer to different location if they move

Asked by DC almost 10 years ago

Yes. Talk to your store manager and the store manager in the location you plan to move. It must be approved by both.

For training, should I bring anything? A notepad and a pen maybe? Or would that be weird and unnecessary? Also, should I wear business casual to training? Or would I already have a uniform by that point?

Asked by Emily over 9 years ago

A small notepad and pen that would fit in your apron or a pocket would be fine. The guy who trained with me had one and it wasn't a problem.

And you should already have a uniform when you start training! Definitely not business casual because you will be behind the counter.

How much do you make in tips per day/week at Starbucks?

Asked by NYC Dreamer over 10 years ago

Tips are calculated by week at Starbucks and at my store turned out to be approximately $20/week. As with any job, your mileage may vary depending on store location and clientele.


For comparison, my previous coffee shop was $20/day.

during barista training, how did they train you to use the POS/point of sale system at the cashier?

Asked by lou over 9 years ago

Yes, they will train you. Your training manager (probably shift manager) will teach you what the buttons are for and when to push them, like any POS system. Practice will make you faster.

At starbucks, do workers have to create any drink? Ex: if I want a white peppermint mocha iced coffee, would they make it?

Asked by cb over 10 years ago

Yes, as long as it's within our power to make. For instance, the drink you used as an example would taste terrible! Iced coffee doesn't do well with the white mocha sauce. So I'd say you actually want an iced peppermint white mocha latte or iced peppermint white mocha americano, depending on whether or not you want milk in it.

So yes, we will make any drink you ask for. I've had some crazy ones. And if you're not exactly sure how to order it, ask your barista! They should give you tips or recommendations.

I love Green Tea Frappucino but I always find it too sweet. I asked the barista for 2 pumps of the syrup and/or 2 scoops of the matcha only to lessen the sweetness. What's the right and best way to order it? Thanks!

Asked by Vincent over 8 years ago

Order with "no classic" to make it without any simple syrup (sugar). The matcha will have no impact on sweetness.

I have a interview tomorrow and im really nervous. Is it a one on one interview? What types of questions did they ask you. I know you said all managers handle it differently just wanted to know your experience.

Asked by Brisa about 10 years ago

It was one on one. Here is a response I gave another person who asked this question:

I dressed business casual (nice slacks and top) because I wanted to show my manager I took the interview seriously. She dropped other candidates who showed up in jeans and tshirts. Again, my manager was my manager and all managers are different.

I think it took about half an hour and she mostly asked me why I wanted to work for Starbucks, my experience and how I could apply it to the job, what I thought of their communtiy service policy (my manager really loved it) and then posed a lot of scenarios to see what I thought I'd do. For instance, she'd ask, "There are two of you working. You're on register and the drip coffee needs to be changed out, tea needs to be made, there are dishes piling in the back, you are running out of cups and you have a line out the door. What do you do first? Why? What do you do next? Why? Say the third customer in line starts yelling because you're taking too long, how do you respond? Why?"

I don't know if there are right or wrong answers to this, but since I'd already worked in a coffee shop I had an idea of what order things need to be addressed in. Part of me thinks it's just a baseline to see if you can grasp the idea that while customers are really important to Starbucks, so is quality and you can't sacrifice one for the other.